Programmable general purpose data path suitable for video signal processors

A new general purpose data path is presented which is suitable for use in a programmable video signal processor. The device is based on a combination of multi-pipeline and SIMD processors. The Letter begins with an explanation of the inadequacies of current SIMD processors. The proposed data path is then presented. This is followed by a brief algorithmic comparison between the proposed data path, and a traditional SIMD processor, for a selected image coding task.